There are a lot of sales pitches, technical terms, and great features that come with internet service offers. Unfortunately, it can be hard to figure out how useful your internet connection is aside from working, not working, slow, or not slow. To get a better idea of what speed packages you need, or what speed actually entails, here are a few cable internet details to help demystify networking.

What Does Speed Mean?

Making websites load faster and downloads complete sooner is only part of the equation. Understanding how faster speeds happen can help you understand how other internet issues such as periodic slow performance, disconnects, or file corruption can make your service less enjoyable.

On the internet at large as an information superhighway, there aren't many speed differences. Some tiers of internet providers may have bigger, better cables, but as far as the customer is concerned, your cables are all going at the same speed no matter what service you buy. There's no faster or slower cable outside of buying an old, outdated cable and putting it underground.

When buy faster internet service plans, you're actually buying more lanes for data to drive through. These virtual lanes are the difference between speed packages, and it's like opening multiple floodgates to allow more traffic in and out at once.

Instead of your cable becoming physically faster, you're getting multiple parts of a bigger file or website at the same time and at higher volume.

How Does Slow Speed Happen

Congestion is an issue, as some neighborhoods may have too many users doing too many things. This usually happens during growing pains of new technology entering the home and regional infrastructure not being able to keep up, but it's usually only a problem during major internet events such as movie releases or when a major news event needs to be checked out.

Use the "information superhighway" term literally. If the highway is damaged, that means the traffic is either stopped or has to take longer to get to its destination by going around the problem.

Internet traffic is routed with multiple possible paths, but incidents such as storms, construction mishaps, or hacker drama can cripple the network beyond any one company's control. It could be global, national, regional or even a local wiring problem after a storm or a lack of upgrades.

Finally, it could be your home network. You could have too many people trying to do too many things for your current speed tier, or you may have a virus slowing down your computer. Contact a cable provider to discuss the kinds of internet activities happen in your household or business, and to get a consultation if the problem is in your computer or internal network.